EBI News for November 19, 2025 – DOE announces $25 million to extract critical minerals from wastewater

EBI News for November 19, 2025 – The following news section contains the latest stories for the environmental industry. Including, DOE announces $25 million to extract critical minerals from wastewater, acquisitions, and more!

 

Apex Companies expands in Intermountain West

National consulting and engineering firm Apex Companies LLC (Rockville, Md.) has acquired Forsgren Associates Inc. (Salt Lake City, Utah), a multidisciplinary civil engineering, environmental sciences and land surveying consulting firm. Established in 1962, Forsgren employs more than 150 professionals in water, wastewater, transportation, and civil engineering and is known for its infrastructure practice. It has 17 offices across nine states including Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Colorado, California, North Dakota, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming. “At Apex, we are on mission to build our company around public and private sector client demands in civil and transportation, water infrastructure, stormwater, environment, and workplace health and safety. The Forsgren team will add deep engineering skills, loyal clients, and geographic connectivity to our existing presence in the Pacific Northwest and the Rockies,” said Apex CEO Shawn Doherty. Apex was acquired by Morgan Stanley Capital Partners in 2023.

Stantec reports strong third quarter 2025 results

Stantec (Edmonton, Alberta) announced that third quarter net revenue increased to $1.7 billion, an 11.8% year-over-year increase, driven by 5.6% organic growth and 5.2% acquisition growth compared to Q3 2024. Organic growth was achieved in each of Stantec’s regional and business operating units, most notably in Water and Energy and Resources, which saw 12.8% and 9.7% organic growth, respectively. Contract backlog increased to $8.4 billion as of September 30, 2025, achieving 14.9% overall growth year over year, including 6.8% acquisition growth and 5.6% organic growth. “Stantec delivered strong third quarter results, driven by the sustained global demand for our services and a continued focus on project execution and operational efficiency,” said Gord Johnston, president and CEO. “With the close of the Page acquisition in the quarter, and the continued demand we are seeing across all of our operating regions, we expect to deliver another record year for Stantec.”

Spheros Environmental acquires Ironwood Consulting

Spheros Environmental (Denver, Colo.) has acquired Ironwood Consulting (Redlands, Calif.), an environmental consulting firm with expertise in biological resources, habitat mitigation and monitoring, environmental permitting and data-driven field services. According to Spheros, since being founded in 2008, Ironwood has built a strong reputation for science-based biological assessments, mitigation and monitoring programs, NEPA/CEQA, consultation, and permit compliance support. “Their team’s biological expertise and experience with complex permitting and monitoring programs perfectly complement our existing ecology, water, air quality, and climate service lines,” said Andra Kidd, CEO of Spheros Environmental. This marks Spheros’ eighth acquisition following Sonoma Technology, LRE Water, HydroGeoLogica, Timberline Aquatics, EcoAnalysts, Northwater, and Four Peaks Environmental.

DOE announces $25 million to extract critical minerals from wastewater

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) announced nearly $25 million for 10 projects to develop technologies that recover critical minerals from U.S. wastewaters. As part of a funding initiative announced by DOE earlier this year, the RECOVER program (Realize Energy-rich Compound Opportunities Valorizing Extraction from Refuse waters) aims to reduce American dependence on critical mineral imports. Although funding went primarily to universities, two private companies will participate: Carollo Engineers (Costa Mesa, Calif.) was awarded $2.4 million to develop a biotechnology-driven platform using engineered ferritin protein nanocages to enable selective and sustainable recovery of critical metals including lithium, cobalt, nickel, dysprosium and neodymium. Phoenix Tailings (Woburn, Mass.) will receive $1.6 million to develop selective extraction via ligand-enhanced complexation and thermal separation. 

 

Langan launches Hydrosuite for utility management

Langan’s (Parsippany, N.J.) Digital Solutions Team has introduced HydroSuite, a GIS platform for utility management. According to Langan, HydroSuite unites water, sewer, and stormwater systems into one intelligent, real-time environment. Built on Esri’s GIS technology stack, HydroSuite connects field and office data, enabling teams to work from the same live network model and eliminating data silos. Key benefits include reducing outages with smart monitoring and predictive capabilities; extending asset life through proactive maintenance strategies; accelerating capital planning and data-driven decision-making; and producing instant inspection and compliance reports. 

Tetra Tech reports strong fourth quarter and fiscal 2025

Tetra Tech Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.) announced that revenue increased 6% year-over-year to $1.23 billion in the fourth quarter ended September 28, 2025, while revenue for the fiscal year increased 9% year-over-year to $4.79 billion (excluding USAID and Dept. of State). Recent key wins included a $500-million multiple-award contract for environmental services for USACE Baltimore District and a $240-million single-award contract for environmental assessment services for the U.S. Navy. Internationally, Tetra Tech was awarded a $38-million multiple-award contract for transmission and distribution services for an Irish grid operator, and a $23-million single-award contract for water engineering services for Portsmouth Water in the U.K. Dan Batrack, chairman and CEO, commented, “We finished fiscal 2025 with another strong quarter resulting in record net revenue, record operating income, and significant operating margin expansion. These all-time high results were driven by the continued strong demand for our differentiated high-end consulting services in resilient water management and digital water automation. Our strategy focused on essential water and environmental services has allowed us to successfully navigate the recent changes in U.S. federal government priorities as we achieved record financial performance for 2025.”  In an earnings presentation, Tetra Tech indicated that its revenues are now more than 85% water-related, and more than 95% from high-end consulting and design.

Online tool expands access to water well data nationwide

The National Ground Water Assn. (NGWA) and WellOwner.org announced a new online tool to expand access to water well data. NGWA Water Well Map tracks more than 14 million wells nationwide, allowing users to locate water wells and view details such as location, depth, construction date, water quality, etc. For groundwater industry professionals, the maps provide a resource to estimate drilling depths and project the cost of new wells more accurately. “With recent changes to clean energy tax credits, ongoing tariff discussions, and new construction regulations at the state and federal level, water well pricing has become increasingly difficult to predict as some wells can cost as much as $40,000 or more to bring into service,” NGWA reported. “NGWA Water Well Map helps professionals navigate these challenges with better data and greater confidence.”

HDR plays key role in New York’s first floating solar project 

HDR (Omaha, Neb.) announced that Cohoes, N.Y. is making history with construction of the first municipally owned floating solar array in the United States. Working with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, HDR played a key role in preparing State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) documentation and confirming regulatory permitting requirements for the floating solar installation. The solar array is expected to generate 4.15 megawatts hours of electricity in its first year. “This project is a powerful example of how municipalities can lead the way in clean energy innovation and add resiliency to the local grid,” said Josh Gillespie, HDR’s project manager.

Parsons wins $23 million in PFAS work in Q3

Parsons (Chantilly, Va.) announced that third quarter revenue of $1.6 billion decreased 10% year-over-year and 14% on an organic basis compared to Q3 2024. Excluding the company’s confidential contract, total revenue growth was 14% and organic revenue growth was 9% driven by growth in Critical Infrastructure Protection, Transportation, Urban Development, and Space and Missile Defense markets. Parsons reported winning three contracts in the PFAS market with a total value of $23 million during the third quarter. These wins span the company’s Federal Solutions and Critical Infrastructure businesses and expand its portfolio in the strategic and rapidly growing PFAS market. The company booked $16 million on these contracts during the third quarter. Year-to-date, the company has won nearly $70 million in PFAS contact awards, and PFAS represents a $40 billion addressable market for the company. These wins represent revenue synergies with the company’s TRS Group acquisition, Parsons noted. 

WSP reports Q3 results, marks anniversary of POWER Engineers acquisition

WSP (Montreal, Quebec) announced revenues and net revenues for the third quarter ended September 27, 2025 of C$4.53 billion and C$3.46 billion, up 13.8% and 15.6%, respectively, compared to the third quarter of 2024. The increase in net revenues was attributable to acquisition growth of 10.1% and organic growth of 3.7%. Organic growth in the United States was in line with management’s expectations when excluding lower demand for emergency response services; excluding this impact, net revenue organic growth for the quarter in the United States increased approximately 7%. WSP also marked the one-year anniversary of the POWER Engineers acquisition, which delivered mid-teens net revenue organic growth in the last 12 months. “From the outset, we recognize the significant potential for revenue synergies. Since the acquisition, that potential has translated in action. Together, we have built a robust pursuit pipeline exceeding $1.4 billion, actively tracking synergies across more than 300 opportunities,” said Alexandre L’Heureux, president and CEO of WSP Global Inc. on an earnings call.

Jacobs expands role in Jackson wastewater operations 

Jacobs (Dallas) announced a nine-year contract with JXN Water to operate and maintain the City of Jackson, Mississippi’s wastewater infrastructure. The contract is an amendment to Jacobs’ existing water services contract and marks a significant expansion of the company’s role. Jacobs will operate and maintain Jackson’s three wastewater treatment plants and 99 pump stations. “In the throes of the water crisis, only Jacobs was willing to answer our calls for assistance,” said Ted Henifin, executive vice president and JXN Water’s interim third-party manager. “Since that time in December 2022, they have proven to be outstanding partners, delivering on their commitments and totally bought in to our shared mission of ensuring all Jacksonians have access to safe drinking water, all the time. Once again, Jacobs has stepped up and promised operational savings as they begin to operate our wastewater facilities. We look forward to expanding their mission…”

Antea Group opens access to worldwide PFAS regulations

Antea Group (St. Paul, Minn.) announced opening access to its Global PFAS Regulatory Dashboard. Developed in collaboration with regional experts across the Inogen Alliance, a global network of more than 6,000 environmental, health, safety, and sustainability professionals, the dashboard offers localized insights and regulatory intelligence for organizations operating across multiple jurisdictions. “Regulatory expectations around PFAS are changing faster than many organizations can track,” said Jason Lagowski, senior consultant and PFAS service line lead at Antea Group. “What we are hearing from clients is the need for clarity…  The Global PFAS Regulatory Dashboard is designed to provide that clarity, reducing guesswork and allowing organizations to make informed, proactive decisions.”

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